Description

About

Published: 2005
Host: ea.com
Format: Publised Online

This overview of the first region of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath was available to download from the EA Games website. We were then supplied with an updated version by Oddworld Inhabitants, and amended the document with strike-throughs so the old version could still be read. We since lost both versions of the overviews, but retain a copy of the page we published, which is republished below.

The Article

Gizzard Gulch - Region 1 Overview

Some say he's from the river. Others say he's from the mountains. He dresses like he's got something to hide. Legend has it that he comes from "them thar hills." The fact is, no one really knows where the Stranger came from, but they know is he's the one that can defeat the outlaws and bring some order back to the Clakker community.

After bagging Blisterz Booty and collecting his moolah at the Gizzards Gulch ~~jail~~ Bounty Store, this bounty hunter's adventure has just begun.

The Clakkerz are neurotic townsfolk. They always need to stay busy. They spend much of their time ~~shuffling boxes and goods around,~~ walking in circles, drinking overpriced water, eating corn off the cob sandwiches, going inside, back outside, back inside, etc... In their leisure they like to harass the indigenous people, preferably with a bullhorn, and peck away at the local flora and fauna. Stranger is often tempted to ~~ram~~ beat the ~~crap~~ moolah out of ~~them~~ the Clakkers; despite the fact that it's enjoyable and they do deserve it, he has to settle down and get some information out of them in order to ~~find bounties and~~ get through the missions of Gizzards Gulch.

Mission 1: Filthy Hands Floyd.

Clakker wagons are being held in Dead Hen's Pass by Filthy Hands Floyd. Floyd is the founding member of The Filthy Clan. He's got the fastest rifle in the valley, and he ain't afraid to use it. ~~Filthy Hands~~ The Filthy Clan has bled the town dry of supplies, and the general store is completely empty. Stranger's got to defeat Filthy Hands Floyd and his minions to restore the town's retail resources.

Up at the North Gate, Uncle Turkey Toes runs a set of gates leading to town. These gates are a precautionary measure to stop outlaws from hijacking the wagon train and riding it into town. Uncle Turkey Toes used to have really sharp vision, so he could pick out an outlaw from a mile away. Over the years, sun damage and a vitamin A deficiency has faded his vision, so he's employed his nephew, Billyboy, to operate the main gate and watch for Outlaws. Of course, Outlaws are still managing to make it through the gate. Either because BillyBoy is a complete numbskull, or he thinks the Outlaws are cool and dreams of becoming one someday. Maybe both. By the end of the mission, he'll make it into the clan all right, but probably not the way he'd intended! Hey- even outlaws have to eat.

Stranger leaves by way of the North Gate and eventually defeats Floyd. ~~Once Stranger defeats Floyd and collects his moolah, the Clakkerz help him get back to town.~~ After collecting his moolah at the Bounty Store he needs some supplies, and maybe a cool drink. Over at the ~~bounty~~ general store, they now have clip extenders, ~~armor~~, knuckle-dusters, ammo bags, and binocs~~, you name it, and they've got it~~. They've got everything a bounty hunter needs to survive. Just don't expect a bunch of fanfare ~~and such~~ for our mysterious hero. He may~~'ve~~ have obliterated their problem de due jour, but ~~now he's made the wagon train late, and~~ in typical Clakker style, they're going to piss and moan about it something else; ~~And by the way,~~ if Stranger's so great, why doesn't he do something about Looten Duke?

Mission 2: Looten Duke.

The Looten Duke has taken over the hydroelectric water plant that provides water to the town. The plant itself has a history longer than the town. It goes back to the days when Clakkerz first roamed across the plains. There was a group of canyons that housed one of the only water supplies for miles. So naturally, a small town formed in the nearby valley. It quickly became a junction point for all future towns. As the town expanded, the need for water became more and more important, so the water facility was born and soon pipes were going all over the place! Some of the water was even stored in big barrels and wagon-trained into distant towns. However, once Looten Duke took over the plant, he shut it down and started charging the town ridiculous fees for even a small glass of water. Without a water source, the town would surely die, so they gave in to his outrageous fees. They also put a substantial bounty on his head.

With ammo and gadgets replenished, maybe Stranger will go after that no good Looten Duke ~~after all~~. He's had about enough of the Clakkerz whining about the price of water, and he definitely needs the money for that big-ticket purchase.

After finding the Thud Slug, a massive armadillo like creature that can knock enemies around, he sets upon the Duke's water facility and starts bagging bad guys left and right. Looten Duke just wouldn't come out and fight until he had to. After a fierce fight against the Duke's gattling gun, the Stranger bags him and heads back to town.

At the bounty store, the clerk tells Stranger that the Doc has finally returned to town and would like to talk to him. Stranger heads over to the Doc's office.

Vykkers Surgeon's Office - CG/FMV

Stranger enters a shabby building that should never be used for medical treatment. But such is often the case when you've got to handle unpopular business. He approaches the counter, his gait resonating on the wood floor with the beat of boots and the jangle of buckles and spurs.

The attending Vykker Surgeon welcomes him back, his shabby clothing and stovepipe hat, once symbols of status, now reflect the harsh times they all live in. Funny how the details on a creature of the surgical arts become important when you realize they will be "working" on you. Why isn't that metal thing shiny? How is he gonna hold sharp tools with those three-clawed hands of his? Is that monocle really helping? Has he heard of sterilization?

But the surgeon is confident, even condescending. After all, he's presenting a solution to Stranger's "little problem" as well as offering the security of anonymity and silence as to the details of the operation. He comes from a long line of distinguished surgeons that are very good ... at making moolah. He places a hefty document diagramming the process that he proposes on the counter. Stranger places his moolah next to it. The surgeon presents his estimate. The number 20,000 is clearly visible on the top sheet. "I ain't payin' that!" Stranger blurts out.

Swift and matter of fact, the surgeon removes the documentation from the counter, and ends the discussion, with a brief, "Sorry to hear that." After all, he has a business to run! Who does this filthy bounty hunter think he is! He hears a slow scraping on the counter. He sees the Stranger's claws carving wicked grooves into the countertop, the wood succumbing and curling forward in delicate waves of anger. The look in Stranger's eye is grave. "I need this. TO SURVIVE." The shaking of the Vykker's brittle bones, loose change and everything else on his person is clearly audible.

"Right, well, that could be a problem. For you!" The Vykker sings the last part in a sick and taunting manner, reminding Stranger that despite his brawn he does not have the upper hand in this situation. He wonders aloud how he'll pay. The surgeon is about as helpful as a puddle of piss. "You're supposed to be the big bad ass bounty hunter - you figure it out!" Stranger adjusts his poncho, rights his hat, and heads out. As always, his skill as a hunter is his only hope.

Mission 3: Boilz Booty.

Sometimes, bagging one outlaw stirs up a real hornets nest. Upon returning to town, Stranger finds that Boilz Booty has come to bust his brother "Blisterz" out of jail. He's been starting fires and wreaking general havoc around town.

The team of Boilz and Blisterz goes way back. Blisterz was a well-known hunter of endangered species, whereas Boilz just hunted folks for sport. Boilz and Blisterz lived around the outskirts of most towns, only coming inside when they wanted something. Their twin shotguns were responsible for more than a few robberies, but Blisterz felt the call of the wild. It caused a major feud between the brothers. After many arguments in which both swore to slay the other if they ever crossed paths again, Blisterz started what would become a successful and notorious career in poaching, and Boilz continued to hunt in exchange for the moolah needed to support his poker habit.

Boilz was also something of a schizophrenic. He believed that everyone was out to get his moolah. Given his paranoia it's not too hard to understand why he'd often hide small stashes of cash ~~all over the towns he frequented~~ outside the town. Many Clakkerz have come across such moolah, but no one will touch it. They know that if Boilz finds a single bit missing from any of his tiny hordes, he'll burn the offending town to ash.

STRANGER

Species: Unknown
Class: Hero

Short Bio:
Some say he's from the river. Others say he's from the mountains. He dresses like he's got something to hide. But the fact is, no one knows where this loner came from, which is why we call him Stranger. But when big game goes bad, he's the dude to call. Conveniently anonymous, this bounty hunter will bag any bounty, for a price. With a wrist-mounted double barrel crossbow and a pack full of live ammo, Stranger is a force to be reckoned with.

Fact: Stranger's top speed is a little over 20 meters/second, which is about 45 miles/hour.

Short Bio 2: When you first meet our mysterious tall dark and hairy hero - you'll begin to understand why the local posse of cold-hearted rednecks never liked his kind. Fortunately for our stranger, he's got a wrist-mounted crossbow that gives new meanings to "live ammo" as you buy his projectiles from the local pet shop. Sure, we could have given him a rocket launcher and riot gun to deal with these trigger-happy clowns, but it seemed a lot more fun to fire viscous chipmunks into their faces, noxious skunks into their bar-b-que's, and killer bees at their bosses. If you think screaming NRA members trying to pull rabid rodents off their faces is cute, then rampaging 500lbs of beef at 50mph into their chests will really soften the heart... (and bones... and cranium). When Big Game goes bad, you won't let the gorgeous scenics, beautiful riverscapes, and strategic cat & mouse moments fool you... this is truly Charlton Heston's worst nightmare. Welcome to the latest breed of deviously deceptive and cunningly contagious Action Adventure game. Air bags and trama center - not included.

Description 3: This enigmatic bounty hunter is packing a powerful punch, and a variety of strange living creatures as ammo. Rumored to have emerged from the Mongo River valley, his grave voice and no-nonsense attitude have made more than a few outlaws pee their pants. He seems to be on a personal mission, but what his goal might be remains a mystery for now. One thing is certain; he really doesn't like guns.

Character Dossier/Bio

Name: Unknown. Round these parts, he's known as "Stranger".
Species: Unknown
Occupation: Bounty Hunter.
Base of Operations: Oddworld. Western Mudos.
Weight: 390 with boots. 260 without.
Last Purchase at a Mini-Mart: Six dollar necklace, file, and a Splinterz boot shine and toothpick kit.
Signature Scent: Musk It Musk.
Catch Phrases: "Never did like guns" "Need to find a bounty store" "Where's the exit to this dump?" "Here kitty kitty..."
Most reliable power tool: Semi-automatic, custom-made, retractable, double-barreled, high-tension bow with optional sniper/snooper scope.
Powers: Hunting, party crashing, bagging enemies and messing with their minds.
Weakness: Oral Hygiene. Social Skills.
Origin: Some say he's from the river. Others say he's from the mountains. He dresses like he's got something to hide. Legend has it that he comes from them thar hills, or those thar fjords. But the fact is, no one really knows where this Stranger came from hence the term "Stranger". DUH!

CLAKKERZ

Species: Clakkerz
Group: Settlers
Class: Townsfolk

Short Bio:
It is not certain whether they actually located and settled in the Mongo River Valley, or if that is just where their Trailers and Procreation Vehicles broke down. It is widely accepted that their sole contribution to society is to annoy and alienate the other species around them. The Clakkerz are monuments of mediocrity. They're content to live out their lives selling goods to locals, swindling Wolvarks out of a couple of moolah, gossiping, and complaining about anyone who isn't just like them.

OUTLAWS

Species: Outlaws
Class: Boss and/or Minions

Bosses:
You know how it goes; everyone wants to be their own boss. Even if they're no good, dirty, rotten, filthy, dumber-than-steef-dung, muggin', lootin' lyin' and shootin' varmints. Outlaws got so much law breakin' to do; they have to farm out the work to their Minions. Word is they're thinking of merging to form Hurt Maintenance organizations just to manage all the damage they inflict on the poor critters of Mudos!

Minions:
Minions are the dirty, smelly fellas that the outlaws had to step on to get where they are today. However, their wide range of specialties including burning, cutting, shooting, shredding and exploding make them valuable resources for the Outlaws. Whatever your destructive needs may be, there is always a Minion built for the task.

LIVE AMMO

Crossbow

The weapon of choice for the discerning bounty hunter, the Crossbow is a semi-automatic, custom-made, retractable, double-barreled, high-tension device with sophisticated optical and mechanical capabilities that include: exceptional depth of field scope technology and eavesdropping apparatus. Load your choice of any ammo type in each barrel for highly effective bait and trap ammo action!

Chippunks

Wildlife (aka Chipmunk)
Type: Send To - Basic
Has a big mouth. Each time a taunt is issued, a distortion effect is generated around the speaker to show the player its effective radius.
Used to get an enemies attention and lead them a player-defined location. Often used to lead NPCs to you, into traps, or just to separate a large groups of guards.
When used in combination with hiding or Hide Zones, this Ammo allows the player to bait enemies away and to bounty them without alerting nearby enemies.
Through the process of unnatural selection, Chippunks survived using the mighty power of trash talk. Chippunks are happy to distract the mental weaklings so you can put them out of your misery!
"Bait enemies with Chippunks"
Rude, crude and in the mood to irritate the heck out of your enemies. These little varmints have a motor mouth that can make even the most insult hardened jail warden wince in pain. There's only one use for these irritating little vermin, fire them at a point where you want your enemy to go to. Most people can't stand their yammering and will rush right over to try and squish the little critter. That's when you can get the jump on them. Just be sure to fire them at a point where the enemy won't see you on their way over, otherwise the jig is up.

Bolamites

Wildlife (aka spider)
Type: Immobilize - Basic
Stops enemies, but does not kill. Good to keep an NPC alive get them out of your way temporarily until you can move past or tag them for prison. Wraps around a target's waist and mouth and then they begin struggling to remove the bola. They are incapable of screaming when bola'ed.
The Bolamite wraps the NPC in a web, rendering silent their cries for help, allowing the player to collect them alive for a higher value. The Bolamite allows stealth play when used in combination with Hide Zones and the Send To ammo.
Bolamites wrap those pesky outlaws in a tight, silencing, and immobilizing embrace of webs, freshly deployed from their generous little bowels.
"Stealth takedowns with Bolamites"
When you hit an enemy dead on, the spider will wrap them up in a flurry of furious web spinning action. Then you can bag the bounty at your leisure. Don't dally too long though, because the spider's webbing won't hold them forever. It might be best to punch them out, just to be sure.

Fuzzles

Type: Trap - Basic
Fuzzles behave like living land mines. They lie in wait wherever Stranger shoots them. NPCs, who are accustomed to seeing the obnoxious critters around trash and what not, will suspect nothing and ignore them. However, when enemies draw near, these aggressive and obedient guys pounce on enemies inflicting life damage. However they are a good distracter, or can by used to send enemies flailing off cliffs or into hazards.
Enemies become mere chew toys when you unleash a round of Fuzzles on them! Fun and functional, these living land mines will stick to just about anything before ripping an unsuspecting passerby to shreds.
A ball of fur and teeth, these angry critters are looking for a fight and Stranger is going to give them one. Wherever a Fuzzle is set, they will wait for enemies to come to them, and then leap, biting and chewing as the enemy runs around in panic. Lay them as traps, or fire them directly at your opponents to watch the fur fly.

Zappflies - Uncharged

Wildlife (aka Surge Bugs)
Type: Damage - Basic
A basic ammo type used to agitate enemies and break some destructibles. Medium rate of fire and medium/low range. Knocks enemies unconscious, kills them after 3 rounds KO'ed.
Zap, zap, repeat! Nature fights back with a zap. Used repeatedly you'll knock out the toughest outlaw; too many and he's out of commission for good! Charge up the Zappfly and he can also serve as your passport to all things electrical!

Zappflies - Charged up

Type: Activation - Basic
When shot at an "activator panel" on a machine, the machine turns on if off and turns off if already on. There are many different machines with different effects, but the activator panel remains the same. Activating/deactivating machines can be used to beat enemies or to solve puzzle-type situations. Machine is turned on permanently until destroyed or turned off by Stranger or enemy. -GDD

Stingbees

Wildlife (aka Sniper Wasps)
Type: Damage
One stop shopping for all your immobilization needs, the silent but deadly Stingbees hit fast, hard and fatal. - K.I.
Used in Sniper zoom-in mode for a one-shot silent knock-out. The Stingbee is gained by the player during the game.
Will kill enemies outright without knocking them out.

Stunks

Wildlife (aka Skunk bomb)
Type: Immobilize
The Skunk Bomb renders nearby NPCs helpless, causing them to throw-up because of the smell. This allows the player to pass them or kill and bounty them.
For the bounty hunter who likes to incapacitate from the inside out, Stunks are the way to go. Nothing immobilizes like projectile vomiting!
"Immobilize and gag'em with Stunks"
A single stunk can incapacitate a good number of clustered foes. One whiff of these stinky buggers will make any non-nature loving creature well up with tears and vomit. Lucky for you, Stranger doesn't seem to mind

Boombats

Type: Damage
Bats do greater damage to NPCs. Once fired, a count-down starts leading to a large explosion. NPCs in the immediate area take damage, as does the player if standing too close. NPCs run away from the counting-down Boom Bat. The Boom Bat can also directly hit an NPC in which case the enemy runs wildly trying to shake it off, while nearby enemies try to get away before the explosion.
Three, two, one.... BOOM! Fire off a couple of Boombats and watch frisky outlaws scatter like flies, or hit them directly and watch as they try to shake off the impending \"boom\". Humor and hurt in one convenient package! -K.I.
"Blast 'em with sticky Boombats"
These little critters eat a lot of nitroroot and glyceringrass making for a very unstable concoction within their little bellies. When riled up, they can explode with the force of a stick of dynamite. These bats are notorious for their explosive behavior, so when you fire one at your enemies, expect them to run for the hills.

AMMO UPGRADES

Regular ammo does the job, but recent studies have shown that ammo upgrades consistently outperform their average ammo counterparts, exceeding expectations by wreaking extreme havoc on enemies!

Rabid Fuzzle

An ADD experiment gone awry, the Rabid Fuzzle goes farther and gnaws harder in a fuzzy frenzy that repeatedly takes down whatever has the misfortune of being in the way.

Howler Punk

Howler Punks make the most of a rare condition called Turret Syndrome... they bellow insults louder, farther and longer in an audio assault unparalleled by any other ammo! Annoy three enemies at a time!

Bola Blast

New and improved, genetically altered webs drain the life from not one juicy outlaw but a whole gang.

Super StingBees

Hold down that trigger for hard-core, rapid-fire StingBee action! Super StingBee Blasts offer razor sharp spikes on top of a burst of power that makes destroying towns and impaling your enemies a breeze!

Riot Slugs

Riot Slugs are just the ticket for close range damage! Charging makes them hit hard, then keep hitting by fragmenting all over the place! Messy, but gooooood!

Boombat Seekers

Bada Boombat Seekers are the queen mother of all ammo! They've got a shorter fuse and five feisty little drones just waiting to fly out, latch onto an outlaw, and cause him some royal pain!

Spark Stunkz

Like an unholy magnet of stench, the implosion Spark Stunkz use their putrid powers to suck in their targets, kicking, screaming, and colliding, into a cloud of fetid demise.